Pieces of Me

Still here :)  Slowly getting into a routine ... I like to have a routine! Going with the flow is OK for a while but then I crave routine. Not sure when I last left a comment but I've been trying to keep up with my fav blogs ... reading from my Google Reader list. So many beautiful projects happening out there.

5 ladies from our Patchwork group travelled for a workshop last Saturday. We chose a design to start on in the morning and after lunch we were given instructions for the beginnings of a mystery quilt. After sewing some jelly roll strips together, pressing and cutting into 4.5" blocks, the layout was revealed and I'm looking forward to seeing how each of our fabric choices come together.

I leave you with a few photos of the time between now and my last post. With 2 consecutive days home, I have a LOT to catch up on. Firstly getting the house into some sort of order ... bookwork to finish off before it's time to start the next lot ... and there is some sewing planned as well.  Then I'll be back on the 25th with my February 1 Xmas Item (luckily this was finished way early).

 During and after the floods ... the road I travel to work.

A little squishy

 

My blog book for 2012 arrived

 

Kitty swap blocks arrived

 The garden is blooming

Workshop sewing - before lunch

After lunch - mystery quilt

Now then ... coffee and lamington time :)

Kitty Block Swap

Here are the 6 blocks I posted off on Thursday for an online swap.

 

I'm having a play around with different ways to get the pictures into my posts since I haven't been able to simply browse and upload from the folder on my computer.  After reading how to email photos on Chookyblue's blog, this could be my prefered method.  You can read about another method over at Exuberant Color.

Happy Stitching

FNSI and Mail

Would you like a second chance to participate in FNSI this Friday the 16th? I'm looking forward to it.

Last Friday's didn't go as planned after a wasp sting on the cheek bone caused a swollen eye and my planned dinner was late and the humidity made things just to hot! This time I'm not making any plans ... just go with the flow and hopefully it will all fall into place.

Plans for 2012 sewing are under way. This pattern I purchased from Cookies and Cream Craft is intended to be made up for a friend. With the 'Blueberry Crumb Cake' Jelly Roll purchased from Want It, Need It, Quilt,  I would like to make a start on 'Dear Jane' and join in with the Janiacs. I've also bought some freezer paper to learn how to use.

A lovely surprise in the mail was from Cheryll. The very appriate covered diary will keep all my crafty dates safe and the sweet scissor fob is already in use. Thankyou Cheryll :)

This gift was hand delivered by gorgeous Kerry. Could those be my daily allowance of chocolate under the watchful eye of Mr Snowman? Thankyou Kerry :)

Another cheery parcel in the mail yesterday were these two bright blossoms from Paula for my October Hexies. Thankyou Paula :)

Have a happy week.

Glorious Mail and Finishes

Our mail is delivered 3 days a week so some mail days are especially exciting when I know there could be a parcel waiting at the mailbox ... and there was!

Beautifully wrapped by Meg I decided to be methodical about this and start with 'F' and end with 'S' ... roll on the ooooo's and aaarrrrr's.

Wow!!! I'm thrilled to pieces with all the lovely goodies Meg has so thoughtfully and cleverly put together. Talk about being spoilt!

F ~ a pretty fat 1/4 and a fridge magnet
R ~ a red fat 1/4, red Donna Hay tea towel and some lovely scented tealights and holder for relaxation
I ~ a Down Under Quilts magazine full of inspiration
E ~ the cutest egg cup, gorgeous embroided picture and pin cushion
N ~ embroidery Needles
D ~ delightful Dilly Bag and a designer homeware mug with adorabe kitties
S ~ soft toy pattern - Black Sheep White Sheep, scissors, sewing accessories and even spotty tissues

Thankyou so much for being my new FRIENDS swapper Meg. I look forward to our continued friendship and hope you enjoy my gifts to you. Thankyou to Khris also for organising this great swap...it's a fun swap and I've made lovely friends.

I think I should start writing down (and keep it somewhere safe) a list of all the clever ideas for each letter of FRIENDS that have been arriving all over the world. I'm always saying to myself ... "why couldn't I think of that?" :o)

Some other lovely mail to arrive a couple weeks ago were these 2 necklaces I purchased from Joanne's etsy store.  I've worn the blue one a couple of times.

Also curled up in the mailbox were these handsome kitties. Kate was giving away some patterns and I was the lucky recipient for this pattern.

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Here's my first item to cross off my list of goals for October. The blue ruffle scarf that I started and almost finished for FNSI.

My october flowers for the Inchy Swap are also sealed in an envelope ready to post to Natalie.

Looks like the bottom is about to fall out of the sky here and I can hear large raindrops on the roof so might be a good time to make a coffee and start stitching.

Enjoy your weekend :)

A Week In A Blurrr!

How can one week go so fast?  Bright and early Tuesday morning hubby drove me a half hour up to the main road to meet my friend Margaret and we proceeded another half hour to meet up with another friend Di. Then after another hours drive we arrived at our destination for a Dye Painting Workshop.

While we waited for the kettle to boil I ducked up to the Post Office and sent these golden pretties on their way to Meg in WA for our FRIENDS Swap.

Under the instructions of  our tutor Ruth we drew our design, chose our colours and started painting. Leaf by leaf my design grew until .........

it was ready to fill in the background. We had to keep placing pieces of plastic over the painted areas to keep the dye moist.

Waiting ... waiting ... until Thursday when I could wash it out and hey presto!

Next step is lots and lots of quilting with different coloured threads to enhance and embelish .... hmmm .... where do I start?

Thankyou Ruth. It was a very enjoyable workshop!

Today, Yesterday and the Day Before

Not so sure about the title but I thought I would work backwards with what I've been up to over the last few days.

This morning as I stepped outside with camera in hand I spied this little fellow ... not sure if he even knows which way he's going.

Time to lay out my Inchy Swap Flowers for a garden update and of course there is always help on hand. Think Fleur is claiming this garden for herself?

Yesterday these two pretties arrived from Anette in Denmark ... just perfect for spring. I started out by embroidering names in the centres so I will have to do some catching up with that.

I spent the nicest afternoon yesterday with BF Kerry. We chatted, knitted and enjoyed a movie together. Both of us were working on a scarf and I was able to finish mine off last night. Here my ever faithful model is ready for the camera.

The day before I found a second hand shop in a little town nearby and found these 2 treasures. The sweet little jug has joined the crockery set in the cupboard and I've left the utensils container on the bench for ... you guessed it ... utensils!

Today is also UFO Thursday hosted by Sandy at Cookies and Cream Craft. Although I have plenty of UFO's to choose from I need to 'feel like' tackling those so for now I'll keep working on things with deadlines.

Don't forget this Friday is Friday Night Sew-In ... think I'll either knit or embroider or perhaps a bit of both :o)

Happy Sewing

Fun Swaps and a Mystery

There is always something wonderful happening in blogland.

Here are just a couple of links that you might like to follow up on.

Click on the pictures to be visit each blog.

I have taken part in both swaps in the past and thoroughly enjoyed making new friendships along the way. Myra hosts a PhD Challenge (currently closed) of which I've completed 3 out of 5 so far.

Enjoy your visits :)

Stitch or Swim

Water water everywhere ... not just here but everywhere ... and if it's not raining, it's snowing. May you all stay safe.

The creeks and rivers in the area have been up and down for most of December. Sometimes flooding us in for a day or two ... and then we make a quick dash to town for supplies. At the moment we've been flooded in since the 20th ... so what's a crafty person to do? Sew of course.
This is Brutus #9 completed in one day ... now #6 is in my embroidery hoop and waiting in line are numbers 5, 7, 8 and 9b.

Christmas morning I was thrilled to open my goodies from Pat for our 6 Xmas Items Swap. Pat has truely spoilled me with such lovely goodies and I must wonder if she has been reading my mind. Fabric to play with, some yummy chocolates, nice smells, sewing accessories and the ideal item for rainy weather ... a 2 in 1 'Elm Creek Quilts' novel.


My heartfelt thanks to Pat ... and to Maree for organizing this great swap.

I have made many wonderful new friends through blogging and swaps in 2010 and look forward to those continued friendship and making new friends in 2011.

Thankyou Y

What's Keeping Me Busy

Photo heavy post ... you may like to make a warm or cool drink depending on the season.

December 1 was swap day with my good friend Kerry. Each year we think of a gift idea and swap for Christmas ... this year was a Christmas Decoration ... I made this Christmas Bauble with yo-yo's.

Kerry makes the most beautiful dolls and Santa now lives at my house ...

... along with his mates. Santa on the left rocks side to side and plays 'Jingle Bells'. The 2 cups I picked up at a Thrift Shop last year.

The last couple of weeks at work is always hectic and always sad to farewell those who are moving on to new adventures next year.

Last Friday we travelled to attend DD's Graduation Ceremony. Four years at Uni are now behind her and she begins a new chapter next year.

Our trip home Sunday brought with it the problem of too much water ... we eventually got home after making a much longer than usual trip. These are the creeks just around our home, luckily passable enough. The road to town was cut for 2 days when the river went over the bridge.

Tuesday we raced into town for more supplies and to finish Christmas Shopping incase we get flooded in again with the threat of more storms and waters yet to come down the river.

I had to bide my time knowing there was a parcel sitting at the post office waiting my collection ... finally safe and sound beneath my Christmas Tree ... my 5 parcels in the '6 Items Xams Swap' from lovely Pat. I was very impressed just with the wrapping and are you asking where is number 6?

I thought it OK to open the parcel tagged 'Christmas Item' and was thrilled to find this lovely table runner which I placed immediately on my dining table as I didn't have a Christmas Runner.

Pat also included some Christmas Ornaments which now hang on my little fibre-optic tree especially for swap ornaments. Thankyou Pat, I can soon open your other goodies. My parcel was posted to Carol but I forgot take a photo first. Hope you enjoy them Carol.

Last but not least, DD enjoys growing succulents and this little beauty was on show yesterday.

Grant the Sunrise Weather Guru is predicting more storms today so I hope you all stay safe.

Two more gifts to make so the sewing machine will be busy today.

Pincushion Swap and a Special Book

Camera in hand it was off to town on Friday and a visit with mum. She also took part in the Pincushion Swap hosted by Jeannet and here is the lovely pincushion made by Lyda in Holland.
Mum has a picture of the pincushion she made and sent to Lyda on her camera but that will be require a longer visit to be able to share the picture.

Some very special mail arrived about a month ago and I keep meaning to post but haven't got round to it until today.

I finally took the plunge had 1/3 of my blog reproduced in a book at Blog2Print. I had followed the link from Chookyblue quite a while ago but was never game to go through with it. Now I wish I had done it sooner and will be going ahead with the next installment shortly, especially while the dollar is up. (This book titled 'Country Roses' covers my blog before I changed the name to 'Nells Notions')

It's so wonderful to be able to leaf back to when I started blogging and have 'ah-ha' moments. Like a diary with pictures ... full of memories! And yes that is my 'blue moon' rose on the front cover. The back cover has a photo of my feline girls.

The weather is drizzly here today and I have lots of sewing or stitching in mind. Hope you have a creative day too!

It's Pincushion Day

It's finally here! International Pincushion Day!

A few months back, Jeannet had the wonderful idea of a pincushion swap and I along with quite a few others (about 150) joined up.

Wednesday my pincushion arrived all the way from Holland, beautifully handmade by Nicole. She has done some very fine cross stitch on linen and attached this to a lovely piece of fabric for the top of the pincushion and added sweet buttons. Thankyou so much Nicole.

Nicole also included a lovely teabag caddy. I look forward to enjoying the tea.

Below is the pincushion I sent over to Nicole ... and yes ... I'm rather hooked on hexigon flowers
at the moment. Which is how I found my way to Jeannet's lovely blog. Thankyou Jeannet for hosting a great swap.

Beautiful FRIENDS!

Guess what was waiting for me in the mailbox Friday afternoon? My parcel from the lovely Dawn of dawnhaydesigns filled with FRIENDS Swap Goodness.

Inside the post-pack what did I see?

Seven pretty parcels just for ME!!!!

Dawn was ever so clever and left a clue on each label as to what might be inside.
And what was inside?


F ~ Fabric ... a Lumiere de Noel charmpack ... GORGEOUS!
R ~ Natalie Ross pattern
I ~ Item to use ... a beautiful purse or pouch
E ~ Embroidery Threads
N ~ Needle case with monogram and the cutest little robyn button
D ~ Doll Brooch and Key Holder
S ~ Scissor Fob ... already on my scissors.

A huge THANKYOU to Dawn for a delicious array of goodies.

And what did I send in return?


F ~ Four little parcels
R ~ Roses gift wrap and cards
I ~ a notebook for Inspiration and a little tapemeasure in Inches
E ~ Embroidery Hoop
N ~ Needle/Tread Keeper
D ~ Drawstring Dilly Bag
S ~ Scarf

Another huge THANKYOU to the wonderful Khris for organising the FRIENDS Swap once more. This is the second year I took part and I have been blessed with two lovely ladies whom I am lucky to call friends!